HUGE thanks to all of you for the support this season! I read all of the comments you leave on Facebook, Twitter etc. and your kind words and positivity have meant so much to me!
Although things didn’t end the way I would have liked tonight, I REALLY enjoyed the episode and I was in tears by the end. Recounting the terribly hard, freezing and frustrating day that we had in Amsterdam was tough but ultimately I was touched by Maria’s beautiful words, friendship and how we left every ounce of our hearts & souls on that cow-pie filled field, ha ha :-)
Just a few “behind the scenes” details you didn’t get to see that might clear up some of the questions:
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1.THE QUITTING THING: Technically we didn’t “quit”, we took a penalty for not completing the Detour which happens to be a 24hr penalty (for an unfinished Detour)... mind you, that was AFTER over three hours of attempting BOTH challenges. Obviously we knew that by giving up on the Detour and asking for the penalty we could VERY likely be eliminated, it was unlikely that we could withstand a 24hr penalty unless it was a non-elimination leg but “quitting the Race” was not what we did, technically we took the penalty (although they worded it differently when Phil came out to the field) and at the point that Brian & Ericka checked in we were then eliminated.
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2.THE GAY THING: Editing might show otherwise but we said from DAY ONE that we thought Sam & Dam were the “token gay team” this season and that was confirmed to us in Vietnam when they came out to us. I think audiences were confused when we talked about “loving” them or “making out with them”, thinking we actually had romantic crushes as compared to just platonically loving them for being great guys and good friends to us on the Race. The rest of the Racers, however found out in this episode in the Dubai airport when Sam & Dan told them... but it wasn’t news to us. Not that this point is important but several of you have commented and asked for clarification :-)
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3.THE HYPOTHERMIA THING: Between the dinger and golf challenge we spent over THREE HOURS attempting both challenges, in soaking wet clothing, in stormy, windy, freezing weather giving our best efforts between the two! You couldn’t tell on TV but the hammer for the carnival dinger was over 40lbs! At one point, on our second attempt at the golf field EMT’s had to come out to the field and take me off because they were worried I was getting hypothermia. You’ll notice that towards the end of the episode I’m wearing a gray, long sleeve which they made me wear if I was to continue the golf challenge even though the Detour rules stated that teams could only do it in the provided farmer long johns! The EMT’s assessed my condition and felt that continuing in the given weather conditions could be a hazardous to my health, therefore production had to make a medical exception because I was so soaked to the bone and uncontrollably shaking. CRAZY!
There is much more to come and Maria and I have a crazy week of elimination press coming up. Of course we’ll keep you posted so you can follow all the action. Again, thank you for the love and support... it means the world to me.
xx
